Display behavior of an Hispaniolan anole: Anolis bahorucoensis

Anolis bahorucoensis males were found to possess three species-specific stereotypic displays in their repertoire, referred to as types A, B, and C, and one nonstereotypic headbob movement, the step-bob. Female A. bahorucoensis were found to use one stereotypic display pattern, analogous to the males' type A display. Anolis bahorucoensis also performed eight display modifiers, many of which were typical of the Anolis genus, including: mouth gape/tongue protrusion, gular expansion/dewlap extension, dorsal and nuchal crests, lateral compression, lateral presentation and bow. Two modifiers performed by males were unique to A. bahorucoensis: labeled as "hip-kick" and “head-swing". Use of displays and modifiers was examined for four contexts: malealone, male-male, male-resident-female, and male-strange-female. Anolis bahorucoensis type A, B, and C displays demonstrated extreme minimalization in structure (i.e. low head amplitude, high frequency twitch-nods) and signal use (i.e. low display rates, performed at short inter-lizard separation distances) which are in direct opposition to the display behavior of other anoles. Other atypical anoline characteristics of A. bahorucoensis include reduced dewlap size and infrequent dewlap extension.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Biology

Department dc:contributor.department

Biology

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

1994

Author dc:creator

• Orrell, Kimberly S.

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

etd-07212009-040417

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/43793